Interstate 24

I-24 may be the only interstate in the country with a control city that requires two other interstates to reach. West of Paducah (and until recently, between Nashville and the Tennessee-Kentucky state line), destination signs on I-24 westbound are for St. Louis. However, I-24 doesn't even come close to St. Louis. It intersects I-57 northwest of Paducah in Illinois, but even I-57 doesn't go to St. Louis. Traffic for the Gateway City must use I-64 west from I-57 north. I-24 links southern Illinois to I-75 at Chattanooga, passing through Paducah and Nashville on its northwest-to-southeast route. It intersects I-40 and I-65 in Nashville, and is apparently a major route to the southeastern United States from the upper midwest. In Kentucky, I-24 connects Paducah, Eddyville, Cadiz and the Hopkinsville-Ft. Campbell area, and passes by Clarksville shortly after it enters Tennessee. I-24 also links the Purchase and Western Kentucky Parkways, and is part of a modern route that crosses the state from southwest to northeast.

Exit 3	KY 305	KY 305	Exit 3
	Paducah	Paducah
This exit provides access to the western portion of Paducah. Just east of this exit, KY 305 intersects Bypass US 45.

Exit 4	US 60 / Downtown Loop I-24	US 60	Exit 4
	Paducah Wickliffe	Wickliffe Paducah
	Bluegrass Downs National Quilt Museum Airport	Bluegrass Downs National Quilt Museum Airport
US 60 is the major east-west route through the western and central part of Kentucky. From Wickliffe east to Louisville, it roughly parallels the Ohio River. The corridor from Paducah to Henderson is scheduled to be upgraded when I-69 is built. Here, US 60 west goes to Wickliffe, where it joins US 51 and US 62 to cross the Ohio River to Cairo, Ill.; then US 60 and US 62 cross the Mississippi River and head toward Sikeston, and the intersection of I-55 and I-57. Eastbound, US 60 goes through downtown Paducah, then turns northeast to Smithland, Marion, Morganfield and Henderson. Downtown Loop I-24 follows US 60, US 62 and US 68 and rejoins I-24 at Exit 16. Signs at Exit 16 have been changed to reflect the route as the traditional "Business Loop 24" rather than the distinctive "Downtown Loop 24" found at this exit. AFAIK, Paducah is the only place in the country where an interstate business route is signed as "Downtown Loop." The Downtown Loop I-24 sign can be seen here.

Exit 7	Rest Area Welcome Center	Rest Area	Exit 7
The rest area and welcome center is located in the historic Whitehaven Mansion, accessible from both directions of traffic on I-24.
Exit 7	US 62 / US 45	US 62 / US 45	Exit 7
	Bardwell Mayfield	Bardwell Mayfield
	Paducah Community College	Paducah Community College
	Paducah Lone Oak	Lone Oak Paducah
	Historic Home Whitehaven	Historic Home Whitehaven
US 45 is a major north-south route through the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky. A four-lane alignment of US 45 south leads to Mayfield and the Purchase Parkway, offering a route to Fulton and Murray in Kentucky, and on into Tennessee. In South Fulton, Tenn., the route splits into US 45E and US 45W, and intersects US 51, which offers a straight route to Memphis and a connection to I-55 in Missouri via I-155 at Dyersburg, Tenn. US 62 crosses the middle of Kentucky from southwest to northeast. Here, US 62 west leads to Bardwell, where the highway joins US 51 north to Wickliffe. There they collect US 60 for the Ohio River crossing to Cairo, Ill., then US 60 and US 62 break away, cross the Mississippi River, then head toward I-55 and I-57 at Sikeston, Mo. US 62 also provides access to Wickliffe via KY 286.

Exit 11	KY 1954 Husband Rd.	KY 1954 Husband Rd.	Exit 11
	Paducah	Paducah
This recently-built exit allows another access point to Paducah. It eventually empties into US 60 and US 62 on the east side of town.

Exit 16	US 68	US 68, Business Loop I-24	Exit 16
	Paducah	Paducah
		Paducah Next 5 Exits
US 68 ends at US 62 just north of this exit. It is the easternmost exit for Paducah. In fact, westbound traffic sees this exit as Business Loop I-24 as well. The interstate loop follows US 68, US 62 and US 60 and rejoins I-24 at Exit 4. Although a recent sign replacement project shows this as being "Business Loop 24," the highway is actually signed "Downtown Loop 24." It's the only place in the country, AFAIK, where a business interstate route is called a "downtown loop." See a sign of the Business I-24 sign in Paducah here. US 68 intersects I-24 again at Exit 65.

Exit 25A	Purchase Parkway South	Purchase Parkway South	Exit 25A
	Fulton	Fulton
	Benton Mayfield Murray	Benton Murray Mayfield
	Kentucky Lake Lake Barkley Recreation Areas Next 4 Exits	Kentucky Lake Recreation Areas
Exit 25B	Purchase Parkway North, To US 62	Purchase Parkway North, To US 62	Exit 25B
	Calvert City	Calvert City
So named because the far western part of Kentucky was part of the Jackson Purchase, the Purchase Parkway is a short limited-access route which links Fulton with I-24. At Fulton, the route comes into Kentucky from Tennessee as US 51. In the Volunteer State, US 51 provides a four-lane, mostly limited-access route to Memphis, with an intersection with I-155 at Dyersburg. There, I-155 crosses the Mississippi River into Missouri and intersects I-55, allowing traffic heading southwest to bypass Memphis. Among the communities served by the Purchase Parkway are Mayfield and Benton. A four-lane US 45 links the parkway with Paducah (and I-24 westbound) while a four-lane US 641 brings traffic from Murray north to the parkway at Benton. The tolls have been removed from this highway. The northern end of the Purchase Parkway is at US 62 just north of this interchange, and from that intersection, KY 1523 leads to Calvert City.

Exit 27	US 62	US 62	Exit 27
	Kentucky Dam	Kentucky Dam Calvert City
	Ky. Dam Village State Resort Park	Ky. Dam Village State Resort Park
US 62 parallels I-24 from Paducah to Eddyville. This exit provides access to Kentucky Dam from the west, and Calvert City from the east. Just east of here, US 62 intersects US 641, which parallels the Purchase Parkway south to Benton. North of the intersection, the two routes are multiplexed across Kentucky Dam to Eddyville, where they intersect I-24 once more before the separate.

Exit 31	KY 453	KY 453	Exit 31
	Smithland Grand Rivers	Grand Rivers Smithland
		Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area Barkley Dam and Lake Recreation Area
This exit provides access to the heart of the Land Between the Lakes. At the boundary of the Tennessee Valley Authority recreation area, south of I-24 and south of Grand Rivers, it becomes The Trace, which intersects US 68 / KY 80 before entering Tennessee. KY 453 north leads to Smithland, at the mouth of the Cumberland River, where the route ends at US 60.

	Rest Area (closed)	Milepoint 35
A "no facilities" rest area is located on the westbound side here, but the entrance ramps are blocked and westbound traffic cannot enter the parking area.

Milepoint 36	Weigh Station	Milepoint 36
A weigh station for commercial vehicles is located on each side of the road.

Exit 40	US 62 / US 641	US 62 / US 641	Exit 40
	Eddyville Kuttawa	Kuttawa Eddyville
	West Kentucky Factory Outlet Avenue	West Kentucky Factory Outlet Avenue
		Lake Barkley Kentucky Lake Recreation Areas Next 4 Exits
From this exit, US 62 continues east to parallel the Western Kentucky and Blue Grass parkways to Elizabethtown, Versailles and on to Lexington. US 641 north leads to Marion. From there, motorists can take KY 91 north to the Cave-in-Rock ferry across the Ohio River, or US 60 to Sturgis, Morganfield, Henderson, Evansville and Owensboro.

Exit 42	Western Kentucky Parkway East	Western Kentucky Parkway East	Exit 42
	Elizabethtown Princeton	Elizabethtown
The Western Kentucky Parkway, along with the Blue Grass Parkway, provides a fast route from the far-western portion of the state to the central portion. Both the WK and BG parkways parallel US 62 from Eddyville to Versailles. Intersections with the Pennyrille Parkway, the William H. Natcher Parkway and I-65 make the WK Parkway easily accessible. At Elizabethtown, eastbound traffic on the WK Parkway can take I-65 north to Louisville, or the BG Parkway east to Lexington, where connections to I-64, I-75 and the Mountain Parkway are available. At 137 miles, the WK Parkway is the longest of Kentucky's current or former toll roads. Tolls were removed in the late 1980s.

Exit 45	KY 293	KY 293	Exit 45
	Princeton	Princeton
	Kentucky State Penitentiary	Kentucky State Penitentiary
	Lake Barkley Kentucky Lake Recreation Areas Next 3 Exits
Westbound, KY 293 ends at KY 93 near this exit. Eastbound, KY 293 takes you to Princeton, where it intersects the Western Kentucky Parkway at Exit 13, then turns north to Providence. The road leads on to Alt. US 41 and Dixon.

Milepoint 54	Rest Area (closed)		Milepoint 54
Two "no facilities" rest areas are located on both sides of the roadway here, but the entrance ramps are blocked and traffic cannot enter the parking area.

Exit 56	KY 139	KY 139	Exit 56
	Princeton Cadiz	Cadiz Princeton
	Cadiz Next 2 Exits
	Kenlake Lake Barkley State Resort Parks Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area
Cadiz is eight miles south of this exit on KY 139. There, the road intersects US 68 and KY 80, which lead back to Land Between the Lakes. KY 139 north leads to Princeton, where it intersects US 62, KY 293, and the Western Kentucky Parkway.

Exit 65	US 68 / KY 80	US 68 / KY 80	Exit 65
	Hopkinsville Cadiz	Cadiz Hopkinsville
	National Scouting Museum (Open Mar. thru Nov.)	National Scouting Museum (Open Mar. thru Nov.)
		Kenlake Lake Barkley State Resort Parks Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area
KY 80 is the major east-west route across southern Kentucky; US 68 is a primary southwest-to-northeast route through central Kentucky. The two routes are joined from Aurora on the west side of Kentucky Lake, all the way to Edmonton which is east of Bowling Green. A major construction project is under way to widen US 68 / KY 80 to four lanes all the way from Cadiz east to Bowling Green. Westbound, the routes pass Cadiz and go through the Land Between the Lakes. After they split at Aurora, US 68 turns northwest and intersects US 641, the Purchase Parkway, and I-24 at Exit 16 before ending at US 62; while KY 80 continues west to Mayfield. Murray, Fulton and Hickman can also be reached from this exit by taking KY 94 west at Aurora. Eastbound, the route passes through Hopkinsville, Elkton, Russellville and Bowling Green, where the Cumberland Parkway and Daniel Boone Parkway, along with connecting segments of KY 80, make the mountains of the southeastern part of the state easily reachable.

Exit 73	KY 117	KY 117	Exit 73
	Gracey Newstead	Newstead Gracey
KY 117 roughly parallels I-24 from US 68 / KY 80 to Alt. US 41. Taking the route from this exit northbound leads to Gracey, where the road intersects US 68 / KY 80. A southbound trip goes through Newstead, where it crosses KY 164, and on to Alt. US 41 just south of that highway's interchange with I-24.

Exit 86	Alternate US 41	Alternate US 41, To Pennyrile Parkway	Exit 86
	Hopkinsville Ft. Campbell	Ft. Campbell Hopkinsville
	Oak Grove
The US 41/Pennyrile Parkway corridor is the major north-south route through this portion of western Kentucky. Taking this exit and going south on Alt. US 41 leads to Oak Grove, Fort Campbell, and Clarksville, Tenn. (Once inside Tennessee, the road is signed US 41A instead of Alternate US 41.) Northbound, the route leads to Hopkinsville, where it ends at US 41. The Pennyrile Parkway is a limited-access former toll route, which links Hopkinsville, Madisonville and Henderson. There, US 41 picks up the route across the Ohio River and into Evansville, Ind., where I-164 and US 41 both provide access to I-64. The Audubon Parkway and US 60 also provide a route to Owensboro. Other Kentucky towns accessible by the Pennyrile Parkway include Dixon, Providence, Sebree and Calhoun. From this exit, the US 41 corridor parallels I-24 all the way south through Nashville to Chattanooga.

Exit 89	KY 115	KY 115	Exit 89
	Pembroke Oak Grove	Oak Grove Pembroke
	Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site	Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site
This exit is distinguished by the fact that the destination signs on KY 115 for I-24 westbound say St. Louis rather than Paducah. Southbound, KY 115 passes through Oak Grove and ends at the Tennessee state line. Northbound, it crosses US 41 at Pembroke and ends at US 68 / KY 80 at Fairview, site of the Jefferson Davis Monument.

	Rest Area Welcome Center	Milepoint 93
Kentucky provides a rest area and welcome center for westbound traffic entering the Bluegrass State from Tennessee. Just across the state line, the Volunteer State maintains a rest area and welcome center of its own just prior to Exit 1.